A New World Order ( ) Performer - Culture & Literature

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1 A New World Order ( ) Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton 2013

2 1. Britain between the wars Disputes between the coal miners and the mine owners led to the General Strike of Unemployment meant prolonged periods of hardship for the families of the miners. The areas in the north of England, South Wales and central Scotland became depressed. Workers demonstrating during the General Strike of In the south-east of England new light industries such as chemicals, electrical goods and automobiles developed.

3 1. Britain between the wars In 1931 the Statute of Westminster formalised the creation of the British Commonwealth of Nations. This marked the end of the British Empire the recognition of equal status for all member states of the new organisation normally referred to today as The Commonwealth The British Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation including fifty-four countries led by the United Kingdom.

4 1. Britain between the wars 1936 Neville Chamberlain ( ), leader of the Conservative party, became prime minister. King Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American woman. He was succeeded by his brother George VI ( ). The Spanish Civil War broke out. Wallis Simpson and Edward, Duke of Windsor (1937).

5 1. Britain between the wars The 1930s brought about important social transformations the growth of population slowed down thanks to birthcontrol practices women were more and more independent the drift of the population from south to north, which was a characteristic of the Industrial Revolution, was reversed fewer people lived in the centres of towns new popular newspapers appeared, such as the Daily News, the Daily Chronicle, the Daily Express, and the Daily Herald

6 2. World War II In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War started. Poland fell in September 1939; Belgium, Holland and Norway fell in 1940; France surrendered in June The Conservative Winston Churchill became prime minister in 1940; he established a War Cabinet of five ministers London bombed (1940). to make important decisions.

7 2. World War II REASONS FOR THE GERMAN DEFEAT Germany did not manage to get control of the air over the English Channel. Hitler s greatest mistake was his decision to invade the USSR in June The German army was destroyed by the long Russian winter and by resistance in the sieges of Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad, where it was forced to surrender in January The Russian Red Army marched through Eastern Europe to liberate the invaded countries. Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin (Yalta Conference, February 1945).

8 2. World War II REASONS FOR THE VICTORY OF THE ALLIES American intervention in 1941, following a Japanese air-attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The advance of Montgomery s army in North Africa (1942) proved disastrous for the German and Italian troops. D-Day D for Deliverance On 6 th June 1944, the Allies touched down on the French coast in Normandy and liberated France. In 1945 Germany surrendered. President Truman ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

9 3. World War II and after THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR The European empires were weakened The French, the Dutch and the British had to abandon some of their colonies. Britain withdrew from India, Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Singapore. Britain s foreign trading position was weakened by the huge debts to pay for the war and extensive bomb damage. The general election in July 1945 was won by the Labour Party. The Labour Party issued this general election campaign poster in The design incorporates a large 'V', representing Victory in the Second World War.

10 4.The US opening towards Europe The US Marshall Aid Plan (1947) the American programme to help European countries recover economically and prevent the weaker ones from falling under Russian influence. Britain received large US loans but recovery was slow huge foreign debt the markets for goods in Europe were largely non-existent the currency was weak The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, known as NATO an agreement of mutual defense with Western Europe. The United Nations Organisation (UN, 1945) replaced the League of Nations.

11 5. Labour government policies The Welfare State The new role of the government in looking after the interests and welfare of its citizens in such areas as health, unemployment and pensions. Nationalisation of power and natural resources, transport (airlines and railways) and credit (the Bank of England). The government bought all the shares of the companies in these fields in exchange for government bonds.

12 6. The Cold War Competition and fear between the United States and the Soviet Union was seen as a Cold War. It dominated international affairs for decades when major crises occurred: the wars in Korea ( ) the Vietnam War ( ) Both the USA and the Soviet Union massively built up nuclear weapons the USA exploded the H-bomb smaller in size than the Hiroshima atomic bomb but 2500 times more powerful The Russians produced an H-bomb Britain carried out its first H-Bomb tests.

13 7. The Suez Crisis CAUSES 1869 The Suez Canal had been built by the French to connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea 1952 there was a revolution in Egypt and Britain agreed to withdraw from the Canal Zone but kept its shares in the Canal 1956 President Nasser nationalised the British and French company that owned the Suez Canal CONSEQUENCES 1956 British and French forces bombed and invaded Egypt Condemnation from the United Nations and from the USA The invaders forced to withdraw their troops by the United Nations Britain no longer a world power and unable to manage international relations without US support

14 8. Elizabeth II George VI died in February He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth II, crowned in The general euphoria for a New Elizabethan Age, was mingled with a sense of anguish and rootlessness, especially among the young. Queen Elizabeth II (1953). Disillusionment came at the realisation that Britain was a second-class power dependent on the USA.

15 9. Indian Independence 15 th August 1947 India gained its independence from Britain Split into two countries: India (mostly Hindu) and East and West Pakistan (mostly Muslim) Mohandas Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, fasted in protest against partition in vain Prime Minister Nehru began the modernisation of India, building factories, railroads and roads 1948 Gandhi assassinated by a Hindu fanatic 1970 East Pakistan became the new state of Bangladesh Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.